A UN Security Council sanctions committee has reportedly allowed South Korea to temporarily supply fuel and vehicles to North Korea, an exception granted for the Koreas to restore their military communication lines. 

The sanctions committee on North Korea approved the South Korean government’s request for permission to export gasoline, buses, trucks and other items to the North, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported, citing diplomatic sources at the UN Security Council.

The 15-member UN Security Council approved the committee’s decision unanimously, according to sources cited in the report.

The UN Security Council passed resolutions to limit exports of crude oil, refined petroleum products and other items to North Korea to choke off funding for North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. However, the resolutions grant humanitarian exceptions.

The decision is expected to boost the two Koreas’ efforts to reduce military tensions -- one of the pledges made at the inter-Korean summit on April 27. To implement the pledge, the two countries at military talks last month agreed to restore the severed lines “as soon as possible” to prevent accidental confrontations.

Dutch Ambassador Karel van Zoosterol, the UN sanctions committee’s chair, said there is “no change” in the committee’s position that sanctions should be maintained, according to the Japanese media outlet.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)